Egypt's energy crunch is next big test for Sisi

Patrons of a cafe in this upscale district south of Cairo can afford to enjoy a luxury that many Egyptians only dream of amid worsening power outages: uninterrupted air conditioning.

Scorching summers combined with a nationwide energy crunch convinced the management at Beano’s to spend about Dh260,000 on a generator last year that allows patrons to comfortably sip macchiatos despite temperatures outside crossing 40°C.

Without it, the daily electricity cuts would halt the flow of chilled air and, in turn, customers, said the manager, Islam Hashem.

“This is our only solution,” he said. “But it’s an expensive one.”

For roughly half of Egypt’s 85 million people who live below or just above the poverty line, their options are to swelter through the outages and hope for a solution from their newly elected president, Abdel Fattah El Sisi or they could launch the sort of nationwide demonstrations that have toppled two presidents over the last three years.